Cup itself is an ornate sterling silver bottomless ewer, one of several off-the-shelf trophies crafted in 1848 by Garrard & Co. Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey bought one and donated it for the Royal Yacht Squadron's 1851 Annual Regatta around the Isle of Wight.

It was originally known as the "R.Y.S. £100 Cup", standing for a cup of a hundred GB Pounds or "sovereigns" in value. The Cup was subsequently mistakenly engraved as the "100 Guinea Cup" by the America syndicate, but was also referred to as the "Queen's Cup" and the "America's Cup" (a guinea is an obsolete monetary unit of one pound and one shilling, now £1.05). Today, the trophy is officially known as the "America's Cup" and is affectionately called the "Auld Mug" by the sailing community. It is inscribed with names of the yachts that competed for it, and has been modified twice by adding matching bases to accommodate more names.